The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery

Travel back in time and discover the history of the the Potteries, including the world's greatest collection of Staffordshire ceramics.

See Reginald Mitchell's World War 2 Spitfire and all sorts of art and craft.

Enjoy a light lunch or afternoon snack in our relaxing Café Museum and browse in The Foyer Shop for unique quality cards, gifts, books and souvenirs of the Potteries.

The entire collection of this museum is a Designated Collection of national importance.

Venue Type:

Museum

Opening hours

Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pmSunday 11am - 4pm

Admission charges

Free

The entire collection of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is a Designated Collection of national importance.

Discover the story of Stoke-on-Trent's people, industry, products and landscapes through displays of pottery, community history, archaeology, geology and wildlife. Explore rich and diverse collections of paintings, drawings, prints, costume and glass.

Suitable for

Website

Stories on the Mantelpiece - Victorian Religious Figures

24 March — 1 July 2018 *on now

In the 19th century the Staffordshire potters produced many figures of religious subjects, from preachers to biblical scenes from the Old and New Testaments. This display, drawn from a private collection and the museum’s own pieces examines the rise of these popular figures in the Victorian period.

Suitable for

Any age

Website

Creative Rage

28 April — 2 September 2018 *on now

Creative Rage is a group show of artists exploring themes of bravery, aggression and trailblazing combative non-conformity. The three generations of artists in thisexhibition are proud, committed and uncompromising members of the progressive LGBTQ artistic community and create work that is powerful and flamboyant, liberatingand often witty as well as visually startling. Works on display include paintings, photography, print and ceramics. Tickets £5, Concessions £3,this exhibition contains sexually explicit images and is not suitable for under 18’s.

Suitable for

18+

Admission

Tickets £5, Concessions £3,this exhibition contains sexually explicit images and is not suitable for under 18’s.

Website

Revealing Voices

5 May — 23 December 2018 *on now

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Radio Stoke a selection of photographs, archival material and film will be on display from the Arthur Wood Collection. Arthur Wood’s love of the Potteries area and people led to a career that captured a unique audio collection of local voices. This exhibition has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund with permission of BBC Radio Stoke.

Suitable for

Any age

Website

Blue

30 June — 28 October 2018

Blue is much more than just another colour: it is all around us, we see it in nature, we wear it, we can hear and feel it. This exhibition invites you to think about the colour blue much more than you ever have before. It explores the existence of the colour in the natural world as well as its meaning, creation and use by humans over the centuries.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

T-Rex Returns

2 June 2018 11am-4pm

Due to popular demand T-Rex will be returning to the museum on Saturday 2 June. Get ready again to travel back in time with a real walking, growling animatronic T-Rex, the Dinosaur that was truly feared by all.

The live dinosaur show is for people of all ages, with stunningly realistic animatronic puppetry to bring you a dinosaur encounter like no other. The 30 minute T-Rex dinosaur shows will be at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Tickets are Adults £3, Children £2, Family ticket ( 2 adults and up to 3 children ) £10. Due to anticipated high demand these tickets must be booked and paid for in advance by calling 01782 232323.

Along with the show there will be a display of life like dinosaur models which include a Stegosaurus and Triceratops, as well as dinosaur bones and eggs. Visitors can also interact with a variety of real life prehistoric animals including cockroaches, scorpions, spiders, lizards, snakes, snapping turtles and birds.

Suitable for

Any age

Admission

Tickets are Adults £3, Children £2, Family ticket ( 2 adults and up to 3 children ) £10. Due to anticipated high demand these tickets must be booked and paid for in advance by calling 01782 232323.

Website

Carnival

9 June 2018 11am-4pm

On Saturday 9 June the museum will be holding a special event celebrating music and dance from Latin America and the Caribbean. Visitors can enjoy a taste of summer and pageant as we celebrate the colour and vibrancy of the Rio Carnival.

See exotic Samba dancers from the professional Birmingham based dance troupe, Desi Nach, who will be performing freestyle and set dance routines throughout the day. For a taste of the Caribbean, Stoke's only steel band, Steel for Stoke, will be playing a wide range of music from samba to soca to classical. Finally from 3pm there will be Brazilian drumming performances from the local community group, Art Brasil.

Children can also make a colourful carnival mask or headdress to take home and have their faces painted to help them get into the carnival spirit. Small charge applies for craft activity and face painting.

Suitable for

Any age

Website

Afternoon Tea with Oscar Wilde

10 June 2018 1-3pm

Join ‘Don’t go into the Cellar’ theatre company for a chat show with a difference! Enjoy an Afternoon Tea with Oscar Wilde, the celebrated Victorian playwright and wit, as interviews a famous celebrity of the day.

Listen as they share amusing anecdotes of their career in the public spotlight. Expect storytelling, sparkling repartee, improvised comedy, poetry and songs, and lots of audience interaction.

If The Graham Norton Show was set in the 1890s, then it might perhaps be something like this!

Jonathan Goodwin plays Oscar Wilde in a show adapted and written by himself. Philip Jennings plays the Victorian poet, William McGonagall.

Please book in advance, tickets £15 which includes Afternoon Tea. 1pm

Suitable for

16-17

18+

Admission

Please book in advance, tickets £15 which includes Afternoon Tea.

Website

An Evening of Folk Music

29 June 2018 7-10pm

Enjoy an evening of Folk music professional musician Sheena Bratt whose band has shared festival line-ups with Ed Sheeran, Midge Ure and many more. In this solo performance she will be performing a combination of some of her favourite songs by others, along with her own music. Free, 7pm – 10pm

Suitable for

Family friendly

Website

Friday Twilight – Circa

29 June 2018 8-10pm

Join us for an interactive theatre performance in our galleries after dark. Help our mysterious character from the past; only known as Circa, to trigger memories about their identity through pictures, items and stories from a time long ago. Suitable for ages 16+, performance times 8pm and 9pm, tickets £10 and includes a Pie and Pea Supper.

Suitable for

16-17

18+

Admission

Suitable for ages 16+, performance times 8pm and 9pm, tickets £10 and includes a Pie and Pea Supper.

Website

Lethal and Lovely: Afternoon Tea with La Maupin

1 July 2018 1-3pm

Enjoy an Afternoon Tea in the company of Julie D'Aubigny, a 17th-century cross dressing, bisexual, French opera singer and fencing master extraordinaire. During her short life she killed and wounded several men whilst duelling, and even took the Holy Orders just so that she could sneak into a convent and be reunited with her lover.Please book in advance, tickets £15 which includes Afternoon Tea. 1pm

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Greek Myths and Legends

21 July 2018 11am-4pm

Take part in a comic interactive theatre performance based on classic tales from Ancient Greece. Join Odysseus and his men as they are beset by monsters and befuddled by gods on their journey across the seas. Also enjoy some Greek myths and legends storytelling and make a comedy or tragedy mask out of clay to take home, small charge for craft activity applies. Free, 11am

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Friday Twilight Murder Mystery: Gay Pride Bride

27 July 2018 7-10pm

Join Mow Cop Players for our summer wedding themed murder mystery. It’s a double wedding with 2 Brides and 2 Grooms, but who is marrying who? When the father of the bride is found murdered, who will step in and give her away? Tickets £27.50 and includes three course dinner, coffee and glass of wine or juice on arrival. Please book in advance by calling 01782 232323. 7 - 10pm

Suitable for

18+

Admission

Tickets £27.50 and includes three course dinner, coffee and glass of wine or juice on arrival. Please book in advance by calling 01782 232323.

Website

Beastly Monsters and Monstrous Beasts

30 July 2018 1:30-2:30pm

Join Don’t go into the Cellar theatre group for this original theatrical show produced for children and young families. We invite you to join fearless monster hunter Alice Quatermain, as she recounts several of her daring escapades from the Edwardian era. Be thrilled as you encounter marauding monsters, deadly dinosaurs and fiendish fauna!

Fiona Johnston plays Alice Quatermain in this one-woman show. The high-energy adventurous yarn is written by Jonathan Goodwin, and directed by Gary Archer.

Theatre show at 1.30pm, tickets £3.

This show will be taking place at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery as part of a series of dinosaur events celebrating Dippy On Tour. Dippy will be on display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery this summer. This event has been funded by the Real World Science project at the Natural History Museum, London.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Meet Tiny the Dinosaur

30 July 2018 11am-4pm

Come and meet Tiny, a 125 million years young dinosaur brought to life by the wonders of modern science. You can pet her, feed her and talk to her in dinosaur language.

Our dinosaur is accompanied by a palaeontologist who presents a lively and informative natural history show in which audiences are encouraged to share their knowledge of dinosaurs and to come up with some scientific theories of their own.

This is an amazing opportunity to get up close & personal with a ‘real live’ dinosaur for the first time since the Cretaceous Era, and to find out a few things about how they lived and why they disappeared.

Free, performance times 11am, 12.30pm and 3pm.

Tiny will be visiting the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery as part of a series of dinosaur events celebrating Dippy On Tour. Dippy will be on display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery this summer. This event has been funded by the Real World Science project at the Natural History Museum, London.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Super Heroes Afternoon Tea

5 August 2018 12:30-2pm

Enjoy an Afternoon Tea in the company of some of your favourite Super Heroes. Dress for the occasion and bring along your own super powers for this ‘out of this world’ experience. Tickets must be booked in advance by calling 01782 232323.Children £8, adults £10. Serving at 12.30pm

Suitable for

Any age

Admission

Children £8, adults £10. Serving at 12.30pm

Workshop, club or activity

Craft Activity- Jumpy Frog

7 — 9 August 2018

Make a jumping frog with moving legs. Drop in 10.30am-12.30pm and 1.15pm – 3pm £1.50

Suitable for

0-4

5-6

7-10

Admission

Drop in 10.30am-12.30pm and 1.15pm – 3pm £1.50

Website

Friday Twilight – 1918: The Unexpected Victory

10 August 2018 7-9pm

This talk by leading WW1 military historian Andrew Robertshaw examines the battles of 1918 on the Western Front and the reasons for the Allied success. Talk at 7pm followed by a Pie and Pea supper, tickets £10.

Suitable for

16-17

14-15

18+

Admission

Talk at 7pm followed by a Pie and Pea supper, tickets £10.

Website

The Bureau of Untold Stories

10 August 2018 2:30-3:30pm

In sock drawers, notebooks, and the minds of people just like you, are tales of significant importance, waiting for discovery. Unravel the hidden stories of the audience with our Inspectors as they utilise live sound effects, improvisation and their unconventional storytelling skills to immerse you into the excitement of an old radio mystery. Free, performance time 2.30pm

Suitable for

Any age

Website

Squawk

11 August 2018 11am-4pm

Meet adventurer Captain Jon Voyage and his avian amigos, two vibrant birds in all the colours of the rainbow. Help them explore their surroundings and marvel at their exotic beauty. Also meet some real animals and birds including colourful Macaw parrots. Free, 11am

Suitable for

Admission

Website

The Great War Home Front

19 August 2018 1-3pm

Join Meridith Towne as she looks at the role of women during World War 1 including their fight for the vote and wartime fashion. From knitting in the theatre to sewing on the tram – it’s every woman’s duty to support the war effort and ‘keep the home fires burning’. 1pm, tickets £10 and includes a Cream Tea.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Resources listed here may include websites, bookable tours and workshops, books, loan boxes and more. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all.

Face to face resources

Animal Masks (Foundation & KS1)

Study the collection of British wildlife in the Natural History Gallery. Learn about pattern and textures, make and decorate an animal mask. Links to Unit 2B Mother Nature, designer.

Paper-based and downloads

Loans Boxes

Choose from a range of themed loans boxes to help you with various aspects of the curriculum: Roman, Victorian, Tudor, Second World War, 1940s, Childhood, Toilet Times, Schooldays, Homes & Change, Washday, Natural History.

Website

The Potteries Museum

Museum Events Page

E-mail

Telephone

01782 232323

Fax

01782 232500

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

Nao Matsunaga and Sarah Worgan have been announced as the winners of the British Ceramics Biennial's regular prizes, AWARD and FRESH at an awards ceremony in Stoke-on-Trent, the home of British ceramics.